


Some Kind of Freaky Christmas Miracle

by cindergal



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: Christmas, Holidays, M/M, train what train?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2014-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-03 05:22:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2839529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cindergal/pseuds/cindergal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke and Reid's first Christmas Eve together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some Kind of Freaky Christmas Miracle

**Author's Note:**

> Importing some of my older fic from LJ. Originally written in December 2011.

As far as Reid was concerned, Christmas was the season not of peace, joy and love, but of saccharine sentimentality, hypocrisy and commercialism, and he had absolutely no use for it.

Well. Except for the food.

There always seemed to be mountains of food around, and he did enjoy that. But even so, he wasn't entirely sure even all that chocolate was worth the sickeningly cheery greetings he had to endure this time of year. Merry _this_ and Happy _that_ every where he freaking went. Even the nurses who hated him were nice to him in December. It was disconcerting.

So it was a testament to Luke's growing influence on him that this, their first Christmas together, was one he was... not completely dreading. He’d even returned the barista’s overly enthusiastic “Merry Christmas!” today when he went into Java for his morning coffee. It was like some kind of freaky Christmas miracle.

And Luke's Christmas spirit, up close and personal, was a wonder to behold, not just in terms of enthusiasm but because it was completely sincere. And a little scary. And as much as Reid tried to resist, he realized pretty quickly that it was a losing battle.

"Oh, just give in, darling," Lucinda had said to him, as he'd stared in dismay at the box of ornaments Luke had shoved into his hands the day after Thanksgiving. He'd only come to this tree decorating party because of the promise of leftovers. He'd only planned to observe. From the couch. While eating leftovers.

"But...I don't...I can’t…I didn’t…"

"Take it from me. Personal growth is always painful, but it hurts less if you don't resist," she'd whispered. Then she'd taken the box from his hands, but not before smiling devilishly and handing him a pasta angel that had "Luke" scrawled across the back of the paper it was glued to in red crayon. His first thought was, _oh, I bet he was cute when he was little._ His second was, _oh God, I'm doomed._ And his third, as he looked up to find Luke beaming at him from across the room was, _and I'm okay with that._

Which is why he agreed relatively quickly to attend Lily's Christmas Eve party with Luke. He’d thought briefly of taking on someone’s shift at the hospital instead, because spending hours with Luke’s parents and faking good cheer was not his idea of a good time. But he knew his being there would make Luke happy. And astonishingly, making Luke happy had somehow become really important to him.

But as fate would have it, there was a snow storm on Christmas Eve day, and a seven car pile-up on I-55 with multiple head injuries. Truthfully, Reid felt a little bad he was going to miss the stupid party, if only because he knew Luke would be disappointed.

"Save me some eggnog," Reid had texted. And then he'd rolled up his sleeves and set off to perform some Christmas miracles.

Nine hours, two craniotomies, and a repair of a depressed skull fracture later, he checked his watch and saw that it was nearly eleven. He thought about calling Luke to see if he was too late, but then decided to just drive over to Lily's house and see what was going on. A part of him wanted to reserve the option of quietly backing away if things seemed too crazy over there.

The streets were mostly plowed, but it was still snowing lightly and still freezing outside, and he wished he’d worn a warmer jacket as he walked up the long drive to the house. Despite his impending frostbite, he had to stop a moment and observe the Currier & Ives scene through the window. The tree, the lights, the ornaments, the heaping stacks of presents - it was all a far cry from what he was used to, and if he was being honest, it intimidated him a little. But luck was with him, because the only person in the room was Luke, sitting on the floor near the tree.

Reid rapped softly on the door before he opened it, and Luke's face lit up when he saw who it was. Nobody had ever looked at Reid the way Luke did, and even though this wasn't an unusual reaction from Luke, even though Luke looked at him like that even on days that weren't Christmas Eve, Reid still wasn't used to it. He hoped he never would be. And he felt his Grinchy heart grow three sizes larger on the spot. Oh, who was he kidding? Since the moment he'd met Luke, his heart had grown about ten sizes larger. Now it was all stretched out and would never go back the way it was.

Luke jumped up to greet him, pressing his warm lips against Reid's cold ones. "Reid! You made it! I’m so glad you’re here. Oh my God, you're frozen. C'mere."

And before he knew it, Reid's coat was off and he was all wrapped up in one of Luke's full body hugs. Reid had never been much of a hugger, but Luke didn’t leave a guy much choice in the matter. And Reid was surprised to find that he really didn’t mind. In fact, right now he was not only submitting but fully participating, wrapping his arms around Luke's back and absorbing Luke's infinite warmth as it seeped deep inside him, through his skin, through his pores, into his bones.

"Warmed up yet?" Luke asked, pulling back to look at him.

"Yeah." Reid smiled. If Luke only knew. "Yeah, I'm getting there."

And before he could say anything else, Luke had him sitting in the comfy chair next to the fireplace with a plate of food in one hand and a cup of eggnog in the other.

"You're, like, the best boyfriend _ever_ ," Reid said, around a mouthful of food.

Luke smiled. “The way to your heart really is through your stomach, isn’t it?”

“Yup. And hey, I’m sorry I missed the party.”

Luke gave him a dubious look.

“I am!”

Luke laughed. “Okay then, I have the perfect way for you to make it up to me.”

“Does it involve sex? Because I’m totally in.”

“No!” Luke snorted. “Well, maybe later. Right now, I need some help. I'm playing the part of Santa this year, and I'm failing miserably."

He nodded toward the pile of crap under the tree, which appeared to resemble a train and some tracks after a bad accident.

"What's the problem?" Reid asked.

"It's these so-called 'directions,'" Luke said. He picked up a folded piece of paper and peered at it intently. "It's weird. They appear to be written in English, yet they make absolutely no sense. It's like you have to be a brain surgeon to understand them." He glanced up at Reid with a smirk.

"Oh, give them here," Reid said, setting his plate aside and snatching the paper from Luke's hands. "This is for the littlest Snyder, I presume?"

"Yeah. I told Dad I would put Ethan's train together so he and mom could get some sleep. But I appear to be challenged in the toy assembly department."

Reid glanced at the paper in his hands. Then turned it upside down. "Are you _sure_ these are in English? I speak five languages fluently, but I can't make heads or tails of it."

Luke laughed. "Thank God it isn't just me."

Reid tossed the paper over his shoulder. "Okay, this is ridiculous. I saved three lives tonight. You run a multi-million dollar organization. OH, _I'm sorry._ TWO multi-million dollar organizations. Together, I think we can manage to put together a child’s toy."

Luke grinned and bumped his fist. A half an hour later, they had Ethan's train running smoothly on its track around the Christmas tree.

"We did it!" Luke said. His smile lit up his entire face, and Reid couldn't help but smile back at him.

"We make a good team, Mr. Snyder."

“I was just thinking the very same thing, Dr. Oliver,” Luke said, before he leaned forward and kissed him. “So are you starting to like Christmas, now?” he asked, smiling against Reid’s lips. “Maybe just a little?”

"All I know is, I must have been a _very_ good boy this year, because I got everything on my list. I got to fix some brains, eat some great food..." He lifted his hand to thumb the dimple in Luke’s chin. "And now I've got you all to myself. Best Christmas of my life."

Luke’s eyes went impossibly soft and warm. “Really?”

The lights on the Christmas tree were twinkling softly, snow was falling outside the window, and this warm, tingly feeling inside him was kind of nice. Maybe this feeling was that ‘Christmas spirit’ thing that everyone was always blathering on about. When he looked at Luke, though, Reid knew that it wasn’t just the fact that it was Christmas that was making him feel this way.

“Best Christmas of my life, absolutely no contest. I love you, Luke.”

Luke’s smile was more dazzling than a thousand lights on a thousand trees. “I love you, too. Merry Christmas, Reid.”

Yeah, Reid thought, this whole Christmas thing might not be too bad a deal after all.


End file.
